In April this year I had a fantastic week with Rich crossing Scotland coast to coast from Evanton to Ullapool. A leisurely 60 miles in 6 days passing through one of the remotest parts of the UK. A route that was a couple of years in the making, constantly returning to maps and picking out tracks and bothies to help with progress through this wild area. Therefore I feel rather proud that a fellow blogger recently undertook the same journey and it looks like he too had a splendid time. You should definitely check out his blog:
Marcus is currently on day two of his write up and I am following it with anticipation. Already he is half a day ahead of Rich and myself on the second day and I am looking forward to see how the rest of the trip went. I hope that his and my trip reports inspire more people who would like to do a Scottish coast to coast but don’t have a full two weeks to give this route a go. If you missed my write up here are the links:
I am forever planning my next big trip and I plan to do another week long coast to coast late next April. I really fancy following in the footsteps of Cameron McNeish and doing the Sutherland trail, which is sort of a coast to coast (west to north!). Or I have my eyes on the map again and have spotted another possible east to west crossing, this time much further north, across the Flow country of Caithness and into Sutherland. I am sure I can twist Rich’s arm again………………………….
Gud’ay James,
I’ll be watching YOU with anticipation to see what your next trip is! I’d love to try and do one 5 day Scotland trip each year from now on and I’ll be trying my best to make this happen.
Now I’ve got a bit more confident with the map I think its time to start looking at more of my own routes, with one eye on the ‘blogsphere’ of course!
By: Marcus on October 15, 2009
at 7:26 am
James, I’ve also been looking at Cameron’s book about the Sutherland trial. I thought it would make a nice round trip from Inverness, bus out to the west coast, do the walk and then pick up the train from somewhere on the east back down to Inverness.
Marcus, I enjoyed a great 5 day backpack from Glen Finnan out to Knoydart returning by ferry and train, a very enjoyable trip, got very lucky with the weather as well.
By: Paul on October 16, 2009
at 10:34 am
Marcus, a 5 day Scottish trip each year sounds like a great idea. You cannot beat spending a few hours with maps out tracing a route across country. If you come up with another 5 day coast to coast please let me know!
Paul, I think that I will put Cameron’s book on my xmas wish list. I have some early ideas for routes across the far north (for some reason Caithness really appeals). There really are endless 5 day routes up there!
By: backpackingbongos on October 16, 2009
at 5:28 pm